AboutTodd Bublitz, RCEP Expertise I can answer questions on Cholesterol & Lipids. I can explain how diet can and cannot improve your cholesterol & triglyceride levels.
Experience I have 17 years experience in cardiovascular disease prevention, rehabilitation and education. Researcher in cardiovascular exercise, cardiac function and cardiac testing. I developed and maintain Lipid-Clinic.com
Also run Nuclear Cardiology Research Organizations National Lipid Association
American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
Question My girlfriend has been excerising the past month for 5 days a week on an elliptical for approximately 20-30 minutes. She is overweight and has high cholesterol. She has become very disgruntled as she has not lost any weight at all and even sometimes gains weight. She has also taken in less calories and fat in an attempt to lose weight (the weight watchers diet). She also says she doesn't look different in the mirror at all.
She feels like everything she does is not working and she is on the verge of giving up.
She claims the only time she ever lost weight was when she was using "Herbalife." I am very concerned about her health and I would rather her not take some sort of dietary supplement.
My questions are:
1) Why is she not losing any weight at all despite a whole month of dieting and exercising?
2) Are supplements such as Herbalife safe?
3) What would you recommend in order for her to lose weight?
4) Is it possible to do all this exercise and not benefit from it at all?
Answer Patrick,
Losing weight is mainly about diet. In order to lose weight a person needs to eat & drink fewer calories than they expend through resting metabolic rate and physical activity + exercise. Exercise can help keep the metabolic rate from dropping when calories consumed are decreased. Also, exercise is the single best way to improve overall health. However, 20-30 minutes of exercise, depending on intensity, may burn only the equivalent of one bite of food (about 50 calories or so). If a person is eating 500 calories a day more than they burn and they “go on a diet” and cut out 500 calories, now they are “even” and no weight loss will occur (but weight GAIN stops).
I have no idea if Herbalife is safe. Dietary supplements are not regulated by law (federal law does not allow the FDA to regulate dietary supplements). Supplements do not have to prove that they are safe or effective and can only be pulled off the market once they are proven to be harmful. A recent study looked at several popular “diets” (I don't know if Herbalife was one of them) and found that Weight Watchers was the most effective diet program.
Your girlfriend should see her doctor to make sure that she does not have some medical condition that is preventing her form losing weight. Once she is deemed “healthy”, she should spend more effort in reducing the amount of calories she eats, but keep up the regular exercise.
Regular exercise will always have some benefit, with virtually no exceptions. You may not always be able to see the benefits in the mirror or scale, but exercise is always beneficial to your health.
